New Location Specific Preparedness Tool: Seattle-King County Ready

Seattle and King County Offices of Emergency Management released a online tool in 2017, Seattle-King County Ready, that provides customized reports of natural hazard risk in a specific location. Users can enter an address or click on a map to see information about likely and worst-case natural disasters at that location and what they would feel and look like. Click the tabs to view each hazard type. The report also explains the steps users can take to be better prepared, describes past events in the area, and links to more detailed information.

Other specific reasons we should prepare:

Help is likely to take 10 days to arrive (according to Tom Miner) - and even then won't do much of anything to help individuals - aside provide some loans - which you'll need to repay. He also noted that in a disaster, those we normally rely on for emergency services will most likely be home dealing with their own personal crises.

We're limited by our reliance on ferries. Without them, many families could be separated for days.

Our pioneer ways (and somewhat decentralized phone and water system) may prove to critical during an event.

Situation - from the Vashon Comphrehensive Emergency Management Plan

Vashon and Maury Islands (henceforth referred to as the Island or Vashon), the largest island in Puget Sound is located in King County, in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area. The Island has 45 miles of shoreline and is approximately 13 miles long and 8 miles at the widest point. Vashon is an unincorporated area of King County and has a population of approximately 10,800. The Island could encounter numerous hazards such as a natural or environmental disaster, a terrorist attack, or public health emergency and, as an island that is only accessible by ferry, could be isolated from mainland emergency resources. The following natural or man-made hazards are the prime consideration of this Emergency Operations Plan and are covered in more detail in the Hazard Mitigation Plan:

Drought

Earthquake

Flood

Landslide

Severe Wind

Snow/Ice

Tsunami/Seiches

Volcanism

Wild Fire

Lightning

Mass Casualty

Terrorist Attack

Ferry Service Disruption

Utility Interruption

Transport Incident

Armed Attack Bomb Incident

BENICE

Haz Materials

Civil Disorder

Cyber-terrorism

Accordingly, the situation is as follows:

Vashon Island faces a wide array of risks, which may pose a significant threat to the population and property within the city. These include natural, human-caused and technological emergencies or disasters.

Depending upon the extent and nature of the disaster or emergency, a potential condition exists that may severely hamper the economic and physical infrastructure Island.

Vashon Island may be isolated for a long period of time (3- 10 days) without outside assistance.

A catastrophic disaster may overwhelm local and state governments in providing a timely and effective response to meet the needs of the situation.

SubPages with Details

City of Seattle Hazard Listing

It is interesting to compare Seattle (below), King Counties and Vashon's list of identified hazards. Some of theirs don't apply to Vashon, but a few we may wish to integrate into our future plans. Here is a list of Seattle's hazards from their Nov. 2014 draft Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan: